♪ >> SO THIS WOULD BE ONE OF OUR TREATMENTS ROOMS WHERE WE HAVE A QUIET INTIMATE SETTING FOR THE PATIENT. REPORTER: A TRIP WITH A LIFE-CHANGING DESTINATION. >> PEOPLE THINK DIFFERENTLY, IT LENDS ITSELF MOST TO THEIR MOOD AND THEIR PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT THEIR PROBLEMS ARE AND JUST IN GENERAL THEIR LIFE. REPORTER: KETAMINE THROUGH INTRAVENOUS INJECTIONS, HAS CURED THOUSANDS FROM PTSD, DEPRESSION, EVEN CHRONIC PAIN. THE DRUG WAS APPROVED BY THE FDA IN THE 70’S TO SEDATE PATIENTS DURING MEDICAL PROCEDURES BUT KNOWN BY MANY AS SPECIAL K A CLUB DRUG USED TO GET HIGH. TODAY, IT IS REVOLUTIONIZING THE MENTAL HEALTH WORLD. BACKED BY SCIENCE WITH ASTOUNDINGLY RAPID RESULTS. >> WITHIN THE FIRST 1 TO 3 SESSIONS, PEOPLE ARE FEELING BETTER, THEY ARE ABLE TO GET THEIR LIVES BACK, AND IT’S REALLY A MIRACULOUS THING TO BE A PART OF. REPORTER: GREENVILLE KETAMINE CENTER IS THE FIRST BRANCH OF THE SUCCESSFUL CHARLESTON KETAMINE CENTER. >> AS I’VE WORKED OVER THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF OR SO AT THE CHARLESTON KETAMINE CENTER, I WAS SO ASTOUNDED BY THE RESULTS AND THE IMPACT IT WAS HAVING ON THE PATIENTS THAT WERE BEING TREATED AND COMING FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO BE TREATED IN CHARLESTON. REPORTER: THE STANDARD PROCESS CONSISTS OF SIX I.V. SESSIONS OVER A TWO WEEK PERIOD. WITH MAINTANCE DOSES TO FOLLOW. EACH TIME, THE DOSAGE IS LOW, CATERED TO THE PATIENTS BODY WEIGHT. BUT THE FINANCIAL COST COMES HIGH. INITIAL INJECTIONS ARE $435 EACH. WITH LITTLE BACKING FROM INSURANCE COMPANIES. AN EXPENSIVE PROCESS. BUT ONE THAT MANY PATIENTS BELIEVE COMES WITH A PAY OFF. >> THEY HAVE TOLD ME IT’S THE BEST BANG FOR THEIR MEDICAL BUCK THEY’VE EVER SEEN AND THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT ALL MEDICAL DOLLARS. NOT JUST MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. WHEN YOUR MENTAL HEALTH HOUSES IN ORDER, THEN YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH BENEFITS FROM THE. REPORT

It's a "trip" for many, with a life changing destination: Ketamine has recently emerged as a breakthrough medical treatment to treat conditions including depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD and chronic pain. The drug was approved by the FDA in the 1970s to sedate patients during medical procedures. It later became known by many as "Special K," a club drug used to get high. Today, it's revolutionizing the mental health world. Greenville Ketamine Center is the first branch of the Charleston Ketamine Center to expand to the Upstate. Physicians Dr. Erik Oberg and Dr. Tim Osbon agree with many experts, calling intravenous Ketamine injections the most significant advancement in mental health in more than half a century.“People ask 'Why would you do (Ketamine injections)?'" Osbon said. "And as I've watched these patients evolve and improve ... the question turns to, 'How can you not do it? How can you not provide this opportunity for people to turn a corner and get their life back?'” The specific IV Ketamine injection varies depending on the condition that's being treated. For depression, anxiety, OCD, or PTSD, treatment at Greenville Ketamine Center consists of six 1-hour infusions over the course of two weeks. Maintenance infusions follow, depending on the person and condition being treated.For chronic pain or Fibromyalgia, the infusions last 4 hours each.Research on the drug and its long term efficacy must still be proven. Studies show injections can help rewire the brain and create new connections in brain circuits. A growing number of research articles continue to validate initial studies. In March 2019, Johnson & Johnson received FDA approval to sell an antidepressant nasal spray derived from ketamine. With regard to treating depression, study after study has shown ketamine can reverse the kind of severe depression that traditional antidepressants often don't touch. “It's incredible ... because what you see from patients is almost an immediate response," Dr. Oberg said. "Within the first one to three sessions, people are feeling better. They're able to get their lives back, and it’s really miraculous to be a part of.” Greenville Ketamine Center builds on the success of the Charleston branch, which says it has delivered over 4,000 infusions in the past six years. “As I’ve worked over the past year and a half or so at the Charleston Ketamine Center, I was so astounded by the results and the impact it was having on the patients that were being treated," Osbon said. "Coming from all over the world to be treated in Charleston.”Each time, the dosage is very low; about a tenth of the amount used in Anesthesia but varies depending on the weight of the patient.

GREENVILLE, S.C. —

It's a "trip" for many, with a life changing destination:

Ketamine has recently emerged as a breakthrough medical treatment to treat conditions including depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD and chronic pain.

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The drug was approved by the FDA in the 1970s to sedate patients during medical procedures. It later became known by many as "Special K," a club drug used to get high.

Today, it's revolutionizing the mental health world.

Greenville Ketamine Center is the first branch of the Charleston Ketamine Center to expand to the Upstate. Physicians Dr. Erik Oberg and Dr. Tim Osbon agree with many experts, calling intravenous Ketamine injections the most significant advancement in mental health in more than half a century.

“People ask 'Why would you do (Ketamine injections)?'" Osbon said. "And as I've watched these patients evolve and improve ... the question turns to, 'How can you not do it? How can you not provide this opportunity for people to turn a corner and get their life back?'”

The specific IV Ketamine injection varies depending on the condition that's being treated. For depression, anxiety, OCD, or PTSD, treatment at Greenville Ketamine Center consists of six 1-hour infusions over the course of two weeks. Maintenance infusions follow, depending on the person and condition being treated.

For chronic pain or Fibromyalgia, the infusions last 4 hours each.

Research on the drug and its long term efficacy must still be proven. Studies show injections can help rewire the brain and create new connections in brain circuits.

A growing number of research articles continue to validate initial studies. In March 2019, Johnson & Johnson received FDA approval to sell an antidepressant nasal spray derived from ketamine. With regard to treating depression, study after study has shown ketamine can reverse the kind of severe depression that traditional antidepressants often don't touch.

“It's incredible ... because what you see from patients is almost an immediate response," Dr. Oberg said. "Within the first one to three sessions, people are feeling better. They're able to get their lives back, and it’s really miraculous to be a part of.”

Greenville Ketamine Center builds on the success of the Charleston branch, which says it has delivered over 4,000 infusions in the past six years.

“As I’ve worked over the past year and a half or so at the Charleston Ketamine Center, I was so astounded by the results and the impact it was having on the patients that were being treated," Osbon said. "Coming from all over the world to be treated in Charleston.”

Each time, the dosage is very low; about a tenth of the amount used in Anesthesia but varies depending on the weight of the patient.